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Thursday, September 26, 2013
WWII in Color
11 comments:
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Anonymous said...
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Thankfully we have a kinder, gentler Navy now!
Tim -
9/26/13, 9:33 AM
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Chuck Martel said...
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Nineteen years old and dodging Japanese submarines.
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9/26/13, 9:41 AM
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bocopro said...
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Actually, Rodge, Eddie was Army in 'Nam. I was Navy, early 60 thru mid 64. He sent me the clip; I made the comment.
Now that I've read it, tho, I see that it kinda sounds as if I'm ignoring the grunts. No way on that. Those Marines and Army troops who slugged and bled and died taking back all those malaria-infested islands were built from better materials than what our nanny-state society builds today.
And those guys who rode those bombers from Tinian all the way to Honshu and back were nothing short of survivalists of the first order.
In all, a generation of tough, determined, uncomplaining, hard-hitting, hard-drinking, hard-headed sons of that famous Mrs. Beach, who had SO many of 'em.
When I first joined, the old salts who had survived WWII and Korea were always complaining about how soft the Navy had become. When I retired in '84, I echoed that same lament.
And then my youngest son, who retired with 24 (Navy) just this summer, says he wouldn't join today's Navy 'cause it's full of pussies and lazy-asses. -
9/26/13, 11:20 AM
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bocopro said...
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Make that "I was Navy 60 thru 84" not 64.
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9/26/13, 11:22 AM
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Anonymous said...
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Some of them ARE middle schoolers. My Father was one of those kids in the Pacific. And he lied about his age, right after 8th grade, so that would have made him ( and his friends ) 14 years old when he signed up, back in 1941.
He never talked about the war, but I found out much from relatives and friends of his, and it was amazing how brave these kids were.
I think that the Depression was the crucible that made those kids men. -
9/26/13, 1:32 PM
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Anonymous said...
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"My Father was one of those kids in the Pacific"
My dad too. My wife is a ER doc and she loves taking care of the (few) WWII vets. Says they are tough as nails, never admit to pain even when it's obvious and then they ask for aspirin.
They are great men. Of course the "kids" on their 5th tour in the sand box are great men too.
The pussies that disrespect any service man and spend their lives bitching about 1st world problems are the one's that chafe my ass. They fold up when confronted with anything resembling hard work. -
9/26/13, 2:48 PM
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Anonymous said...
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James D. Hornfishcer writes detailed and evocative stories of pivotal US Navy combat in WWII.
RAK
http://www.amazon.com/Neptunes-Inferno-U-S-Navy-Guadalcanal/dp/0553385127 -
9/26/13, 4:00 PM
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LargeBill said...
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My first ship was the tender USS Vulcan (AR 5) commissioned in June of 1941. I reported aboard in March of 1979. Spent four years on her and then was transferred to USS Virginia (CGN 38) which was a fairly new nuke cruiser. Thought I had dies and gone to heaven. Ships were night and day different when it came to creature comforts.
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9/26/13, 7:06 PM
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Mike C said...
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Well - they still do the same 'fun' stuff - like swim call even if they have to step outside the A/C spaces to do it... Let the A/C plant break down and then you have some unhappiness...
I remember in the late 90's being on board the USS Pelican (minehunter) in the gulf off the Texas coast as a civilian when they did an extended fire drill (A/C shut down). That ship got insanely hot. I can't imagine how tough it was for those guys back then. Truly a different time. -
9/27/13, 8:03 AM
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Anonymous said...
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Norfold, Va, D&S piers the summer of the Arab-Israeli war in '67 I slept in the berthing area under the fantail, directly above either the rudders or after steering in a Sumner Class, (which was finally sold to Venezuela) Baked steel will keep you warmer than you want. The only A/C was in the mess decks, where food was served on steel trays hot from the dishwasher. If you had icecream for dessert, you ate dessert first before it melted. An LST in the next summer, moored in the middle of the river near Dam Neck, or was it Little Creek NAB? Sand, bug-juice, mosquitoes, and multi-mile runs in the early AM. Those two experiences were followed by assignments to NAS, Pax, and NAS, Corpus Christi respectively for a few weeks. What a difference between the two parts of the navy, or so I am told. Pax had the best enlisted mess in the world when I was there.
We had swim call in the Indian Ocean, right near the Equator.
Swimming in water that is at least a mile deep makes you realize your insignificance. The same as being able to see your wake all the way to the horizon when the seas were calm. The world is big, and we are small. Those fellows in WWII knew they were part of something larger, and accepted their role. Their service was respected by their fellow citizens. Not today, it seems. Words are mouthed, but the level of respect and admiration seems to me to be lacking in the glitterati. There are a few exceptions that try to emulate the Bob Hope and so many others who contributed what they could back then. So so so few today give a flying F for the service men & women.
tomw -
9/28/13, 9:39 AM
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Rodger the Real King of France said...
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Spent my Fridays at the Fort Story O Club and Saturday & Sunday at the Surf Rider (Va Beach).
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9/28/13, 1:43 PM
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